Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a marketing method and a marketing system whereby a sponsor of an advertising campaign funds the production of a plurality of sanitary glove assemblies which visibly display the sponsor's advertising indicia, and which are strategically placed in dispenser assemblies installed at one or more target sites throughout a campaign territory. End users, typically consumers, are permitted to utilize a pair of the sanitary glove assemblies bearing the sponsor's advertising without cost while conducting his or her transaction at the target site, thereby preventing the transmission of contaminants to the end user from the target site and simultaneously creating a positive advertising environment for the sponsor to convey its message to end users via at least its advertising indicia on the sanitary glove assemblies.
Description of the Related Art
It is well known that numerous contaminants are transferred to human beings through their day to day contact with other people, plants, animals, as well as many inanimate objects. These contaminants include bacteria, mold, and a number of viruses which are known to be responsible for the common cold and various forms of influenza, as well as more serious contaminants such as, by way of example, E. coli. Research has shown that viruses can live on the surface of inanimate objects anywhere with time periods ranging from one or two hours to upwards of one or two days.
The human rhinovirus was projected to cause over 560 million cases of the common cold in the United States alone in 2013. Cold and flu germs has shown potential survival times ranging from a few minutes to 48 hours or more on various surfaces. Further, it is well known that the common cold can lead to more serious infections, such as sinusitis, ear infections, and/or bronchitis. The virus was projected to infect over 200 million people in the United States in 2013, and the total estimated cost of the common cold in the United States in 2013 was expected to exceed 40 billion dollars.
A recent study conducted by Kimberly-Clark tested the surfaces of seven different objects in a half-dozen cities across the United States, including, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, and Philadelphia. A total of seven different objects were tested in each city to measure levels of Adenosine Triphosphate (“ATP”). ATP is an organic molecule utilized by living cells as an energy source, and animal, plant, bacteria, yeast, mold cells produce and break down ATP in order to survive. As such, a measure of ATP provides an indication of the cleanliness of a surface, and a reading of greater than 300 represents a highly contaminated surface.
According to the results from testing performed by Kimberly-Clark, of the seven different common objects tested, over 70% of gas pump handles had an ATP reading greater than 300. Next were mail box handles at just under 70%, escalator rails, ATM buttons and parking meters/kiosk all around 40%, and cross walk and vending machine buttons at around 35%.
Thus, research has shown that gas pump handles are among the most contaminated surfaces that people commonly come into contact in their daily lives. However, it is also well known that very few people take time to wash or sanitize their hands after pumping gas, thus leading in the spread of viruses to other people either directly or through common contact with other surfaces. Research has shown that minor illnesses are readily preventable by simply breaking the chain of germ transmission.
At the present time, the primary means for addressing contamination from surfaces has been to recommend frequent hand washing, however, this has proven to be at best inconvenient, and in many cases, simply not an available option. More recently, a variety of sanitizing solutions in various forms of dispensers have become common, however, once again, consistent usage of the same is required in order to break the chain of germ transmission. Thus, as noted above, a preferred option is simply to prevent direct contact with potentially contaminated surfaces. This is accomplished through the use of various types of gloves which may be placed over a user's hand before coming into contact with a contaminated surface in order to avoid the transfer of any contaminants from the surface to the person's hands, where the contaminants can be further spread as the person goes about his or her day. Such gloves are commonly employed by doctors, dentists and other healthcare workers, and are being more commonly employed in other facets of our daily lives.
As such, it would be beneficial to society as a whole to provide a supply of sanitary gloves for people to utilize so as to avoid contact with potentially contaminated surfaces. It would be further beneficial to provide the supply of sanitary gloves to the general public without cost to the end users themselves. A further benefit may be realized by utilizing one or more surface of a sanitary glove on which to place advertising indicia, wherein the cost of providing the supply of sanitary gloves to the general public is born by the sponsor of the advertising campaign. It would further be helpful to provide a disposal assembly for discarded sanitary gloves at a target site, such that, discarded sanitary gloves can be periodically collected for disposal, or more preferably, for purposes of recycling. It would also be beneficial to society as a whole to provide a method whereby a sponsor of an advertising campaign funds the production of a plurality of sanitary glove assemblies which include the sponsor's advertising indicia and which are dispensed at target sites via a dispenser assembly which also prominently displays the sponsor's advertisement media. Yet one further benefit may be obtained by providing a user incentive in conjunction with one or more sanitary glove assembly which is provided without cost to an end user, once again, such as a consumer.